I finally tried that $20 chainmail scrubber everyone talks about for my cast iron.

I used it on a pan with stuck on bits from some cornbread last night and it took everything off without hurting the seasoning at all. It felt like cheating compared to my old salt and oil method. Has anyone else found a tool that made cleaning way easier?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_vera28d ago

My grandmother actually used a rag and lard, not a regular rag, so that's not quite the same thing. The seasoning back then was different too because they cooked with more fat daily. A dry rag on a modern nonstick coating won't do much. I think the chainmail is worth it for people who don't want to reseason every few months. Have you tried it on something really baked on like nacho cheese?

the_sage3mo ago

Honestly, it's just a pan. A chainmail scrubber seems like overkill for something our grandparents just used a rag on. That old salt method worked fine and didn't cost twenty bucks. Sometimes the simple way is still the best way, no fancy tools needed. Feels like we make simple tasks too complex now.

marymorgan3mo ago

Remember my uncle tried the salt trick on his old cast iron after seeing it online, and it left this weird cloudy film he couldn't get off. I mean, maybe he did it wrong, but it kinda proves your point, @the_sage, that the old ways need the right touch. He ended up buying one of those scrubbers anyway, which felt like a whole thing. Sometimes the simple fix just makes more mess, and then you're out more money fixing that. Idk, maybe it's just me, but I get why people skip straight to the tool now.